In Brief

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Faculty/Staff

Libby Alcaro, student administration (SA) project student functional analyst, presented during the Alliance 2008 conference in Las Vegas from March 10–13. Alcaro’s presentation, “A Diamond in the Rough: Discovering and Polishing Workflow,” was about workflow as it relates to the SA. The conference was organized and managed by the Higher Education User Group.

John Allison, professor of chemistry, shared his expertise at the den meeting of 13 Cub Scouts (8–9 years old) in Chesterfield recently. The Scouts are working on forensic badges. Under the Allison’s guidance, the Scouts spent more than an hour practicing how to dust for fingerprints and how to find fingerprints chemically (using iodine).

Bernard Bearer, associate professor of English, read and discussed a passage from the opening of William Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!” on February 22 in the Business Building Basement Lounge as part of TCNJ’s Close Readings events.

Avery Faigenbaum, associate professor; Jay Hoffman, professor and chair; and Nicholas Ratamess, assistant professor, all from the Department of Health and Exercise Science, co-authored “Self-Selected Resistance Training Intesity in Healthy Women: The Influence of a Personal Trainer,” which appeared in the January issue of Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research.

Faigenbaum, Hoffman, Ratamess also co-authored the report, “Short-duration β-alanine supplementation increases training volume and reduces subjective feelings of fatigue in college football players,” which appeared in the January 2008 issue of Nutrition Research. Jie Kang, professor of health and exercise science; Ryan Ross ’07; Jeffrey Stout of the Department of Health and Exercise Science, University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK; and John Wise of Alternatives International in San Marcos, CA, were the article’s other co-authors.

Faigenbaum, Ratamess, Kang, and Ross ’07 co-authored “Nutritional Supplementation and Anabolic Steroid Use in Adolescents,” which appeared in the January issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Gershon Tenenbaum of the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at Florida State University also contributed to the paper.

Blythe Hinitz, professor of elementary and early childhood education, received the National Association of Early Shildhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE) 2007 Outstanding Teacher Educator Award. According to the NAECTE Web site, the award is in recognition of “meritorious leadership and professionalism in early childhood teacher education.”

Steve Klug, professor of biology, and Michael A. Palladino ’87, along with Michael R. Cummings of the Illinois Institute of Technology–Chicago and Charlotte Spencer of the University of Alberta, are co-authors of Concepts of Genetics, Ninth Edition. According to the publisher, this best-selling text is “known for its focus on concepts and problem-solving…[and] has been extensively updated with new coverage of genomics, bioinformatics, proteomics and more.”

Bozena Leven, professor of economics and program coordinator for the International Business specialization, published the paper “Poland’s transition and new opportunities for women” in the January issue of Feminist Economics. The article examines the effects of marketization on Polish women between 1990 and 2003.

Cathy Liebars, associate professor of mathematics, Leona Harris and Karen Clark, assistant professors of mathematics, and Aigli Papantonopoulou, professor of mathematics, participated in the Statewide Conference on the Transfer Articulation in Mathematics at Rutgers University in February. Papantonopoulou made a presentation on the transition from 200-level to 300-level courses.

Professor of Political Science Marianna Sullivan’s review of Kathryn C. Statler’s book, Replacing France: The Origins of American Intervention in Vietnam, was published in the January issue of Journal of Military History.

Deborah Thompson, associate professor of early childhood education, co-authored “Challenges to Children’s Literature: Deskilling, Censoring, and Obsolescence,” which appeared in the January issue of Language Arts. The article reviewed several children’s books including, Home Now by Lesley Beake; Josias, Hold the Book by Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren; and Angel City by Tony Johnston

Students

Senior English majors Trista Altstadt, Lindsey Warren, David Knecht, and Erica Rosenfeld; senior English and interactive multimedia double major Christine Hartigan; senior English and elementary education double major Joanna Oliver; junior English majors Randal Kalmikoff and Alex Witkowski; junior English and international studies double major Nicole Pfeiffer; and sophomore English major Jason Toncic presented at the Sigma Tau Delta national convention in Louisville, KY, March 5–9. Sigma Tau Delta is the international English honor society. TCNJ’s chapter received one of three 2008 Outstanding Chapter awards.

TCNJ’s teams fared exceptionally well in competition with 3,033 other undergraduate student teams in the National Business Capstone Simulation (CAPSIM). The Andrews team, made up of senior marketing majors Kyle Baker, Kristen Cubiccioiti, Karen Doane, and Steve Scutellaro and senior general business major Pat Cross, finished in the top one percent in asset turns and the top 20 percent in stock price. The Digby team, made up of senior marketing majors Jessica Bonelli, Lyndsay Malloy, and Nicole Swan and sophomore international business major Maria DelaCruz, finished in the top 20 percent in third-year profit and ROE, as well as the top five percent in asset turns.

Senior physics majors Brandon Bentzley, Justin Nieusma, Rachel Sherman, and Mike Hvasta were accepted into NASA’s Microgravity University. This program is nationally competitive and enables undergraduate researchers to carry out their experiments in a weightless environment aboard a DC-9 plane, affectionately known as the “Vomit Comet.” The team’s proposal submission, titled “Using Fluorescent Dust to Obtain a Three-Dimensional Analysis of a Dusty Plasma,” was prepared with the help of Romulo Ochoa, professor of physics, and Andrew Zwicker of Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. This June, the students will fly to Houston, TX, to spend 10 days working at the Johnson Space Center, preparing for a two-day experimental flight. More information about the proposal may be found at www.DustyPlasma.org.

Autumn Breese, sophomore computer science major, received an all-expenses paid trip to the Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA, in February. She participated in the “Celebration of National Engineers” week and “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” day. The program rewards deserving female students in computer science, and inspires them to become active participants and leaders in creating technology.

Trevor Cornell, junior chemistry major, and Shawn Donnelly, sophomore chemistry major, accompanied by John Allison, professor of chemistry, participated in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference is Washington, D.C., in February. The two students and their adviser authored two back-to-back talks in a session devoted to Questioned Document Examination. “Analysis of Inkjet Printed Documents I: Physical and Chemical Challenges” was presented by Donnelly, and Allison presented “Analysis of Inkjet Printed Documents II: Colorant Analysis by Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometry.”

Kimberly Critelli, sophomore elementary and early childhood education major, was chosen as one of five finalists in the “Pay It Forward” Scholarship contest sponsored by the New Jersey-based Citizen United Reciprocal Exchange (CURE) auto insurance company. She will receive a plaque and $1,000 from CURE for textbooks as well as other gifts. More than 300 students from across New Jersey applied for the scholarship.

Senior health and exercise science major Katie Foster’s article, “Quantification of Physical Activity in Middle School Physical Education,” was published in the February issue of JOPERD: The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance.

An article presenting several opinions from students and professors regarding the issue of including extreme sports and dance in the physical education curriculum in the U.S. was printed in the February 2008 issue of JOPERD: The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. TCNJ students Rich Gawlak and Chris Morehart, sophomore health and exercise science majors, were among the article’s authors.

“Identification of Colorants in Pigmented Pen Inks by Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometry,” written by Kaitlin Papson ’07; Sylwia Stachura ’06; Luke Boralsky, senior chemistry major; and John Allison, professor of chemistry, was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. The work represents research done by three students while working in Allison’s group. Papson is currently in the chemistry PhD program at the University of Delaware and Stachura works as a chemist for Merck & Co. Inc.

Senior computer science majors Rob Wilson and Jake Voytko; junior computer science majors Bryce Liskovec, Steve Lombardi, Christopher Neylan, and Andrew Timmes; sophomore computer science major Autumn Breese; and junior computer engineering major Ryan Van Antwerp competed at the 2008 Computer Science Games at the Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Quebec, March 7–9. The Computer Science Games is a collegiate competition that includes challenges from all aspects of computing. The Games are a weekend long thrill ride with logic puzzles, difficult algorithms, intense video game competitions, social activities, and programming.